Transition to Renewable Energy

Using renewable energy mitigates climate change. Germany’s federal government has set a target to generate 40 to 45 percent of Germany’s electricity from renewable energy sources by 2025.

Wind power and biogas are the driving forces in this “energy transition”.

Wind Power

Wind power is widely accepted by the population. The market grows by 44% annually, and has exceeded 50 GW for the first time in 2014. After a slowdown in 2013, the wind industry set a new record for annual installations in 2014. Globally, 51,477 MW of new wind generating capacity were added in 2014 according to the global wind market statistics released by the Global Wind Energy Council.

Due to its long term business relations in the north-eastern region of Germany the company could secure attractive locations for its wind farms. All sites are considered as potential areas for wind farms in the regional development plans for renewable energy. Based on current planning it is expected that at least 120MW wind energy will be installed and operated by the company within the next few years. Furthermore, the company is in final negation in the western part of Germany to secure further wind locations and open up new markets. The potential areas allow the installation of another 100 to 150MW of wind energy. Further areas are in the planning phase.

Biogas

Biogas upgrading plant in Kißlegg, Germany

The German biogas market, which has long been based exclusively on biogas plants fed with “energy crops” and is currently in transition. The company has therefore focused on large and small biogas plants operated without any energy crops, both in the agricultural and the industrial sector, and has developed several industrial scale projects where financial closing and implementation are now imminent.

The company has already realized various biogas projects where it constructed biogas plants on behalf of its customers. Several industrial-scale biogas projects based solely on organic residues (i.e. zero energy crops) are currently being developed, with construction of the first one to begin in 2016.

The company was the first to supply, in 2010, a membrane-based biogas upgrading system, a technology which will soon be the predominant technology for biogas upgrading. The technology was awarded with the innovation award of the German Energy Agency (dena, Deutsche Energieagen­tur). All of the company’s industrial biogas projects currently under development comprise conversion of biogas into biomethane, for subsequent injection into the gas network.